Hope she can relax enough to let herself enjoy this, he thought, as he paced beside the pool. He’d hated like hell that she was so scared of him, of the way he made her feel. It was one of the things that had motivated him to promise not to bond her for the entire week. In that, he was taking a big gamble and Baird knew it. Every instinct he had screamed at him to make her his as quickly as possible but he forced himself to remember Sylvan’s advice. He had to take things slowly—rushing would only scare Olivia away. After all, the ultimate decision to bond with him or not was hers and right now she was dead set against it. Baird had to be sure he gave her a damn good reason to change her mind. He hoped that by taking away her fear of bonding, at least for a week, he could get her to relax and enjoy the pleasure he couldn’t wait to give her. If he could just make her realize how right they were together, how much they needed each other—
“I’m ready.”
Olivia’s soft voice interrupted his thoughts and Baird stopped pacing and looked up to see her standing there in the long red bathing gown. She looked beautiful and frightened and defiant all at once and he felt his heart squeeze in his chest at the sight of her. Gods, he wanted so much to make this good for her! To pleasure her and make her come over and over until she was finally at peace in his arms. Slowly, he reminded himself again. Slowly.
“You look lovely, Lilenta,” he murmured, his voice slightly hoarse with need. It was true—the dark red of the gown made her hair look like honey and brought out the clear grey of her eyes.
“Thanks.” She shifted uncomfortably. “Uh—what’s next?”
“Now we get in the pool but first we have to get undressed.”
“All right.” She started to pull at the sash on the robe, clearly just wanting to get it over with, but Baird stepped forward and stopped her with a hand on her arm.
“I’m supposed to go first, Lilenta.”
“Oh. Okay, sorry.” She looked intensely uncomfortable and Baird wished he could put her at ease. Unfortunately seeing him naked probably wasn’t going to have that effect. Slowly, trying not to startle her, he pushed down the black sleep pants which were all he was wearing. Then he rose and stood in front of her in a relaxed posture, giving her time to look.
Olivia’s gaze flicked over his body, marking his shoulders and chest and the flat planes of his abdomen before dipping lower to look between his legs. Baird saw her eyes widen as she took in the thick club of his sex which was already more than half hard in anticipation of seeing her naked.
“My God,” she murmured, putting a hand to her mouth.
“Is there something wrong?” Baird looked down at himself. He knew from the material Sylvan had given him to study that Kindred males were pretty much the same as their human counterparts—although built on a considerably larger scale. The only difference in their anatomy was the mating fist at the base of his shaft and it wouldn’t fully inflate until he was buried deep in his bride’s sweet body, bonding her to him.
“Nothing’s wrong.” Olivia’s cheeks were as red as her robe. “It’s just…you’re so big. I mean, can you actually use that thing without being arrested for assault with a deadly weapon?”
Baird realized she was making a joke about his size—probably because it frightened her. “It’s all right, Lilenta,” he murmured, taking a step toward her. “I would never hurt you. I promise that when the time comes for me to enter you, I’ll make sure you’re wet and ready to take me.”
“You’re assuming we’ll make it that far.” Her words were defiant but her voice shook, betraying her uncertainty.
“Not tonight,’ Baird assured her. “Tonight is all about your pleasure, Lilenta.” Reaching for the long sash of the robe, he looked into her eyes. “Will you allow me to disrobe you?”
“I…” Olivia nibbled her bottom lip nervously—a distractingly erotic gesture as far as Baird was concerned. “Yes, I…I guess so.”
“Thank you,” he said softly. “I promise you won’t regret it.”
“I already regret it,” she whispered but made no move to stop him when he tugged on the sash. The loose knot she’d tied it in parted easily and the crimson bathing robe opened to reveal her naked flesh. Baird caught his breath at her beauty—high full breasts tipped with tight pink nipples led down to the softly rounded planes of her abdomen and the dimple of her navel. And nestled in the tender vee between her thighs was the mound of neatly trimmed blonde curls that hid her sex.